Damian Clarke, a former equities trader at Schroders Investment Management Limited, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to nine counts of insider trading. He will be sentenced on 13 June 2016. Mr Clarke pleaded guilty to seven counts of insider dealing on 24 July 2015, and today (15 March) has pleaded guilty to the remaining two counts.
Mark Steward director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said: “Insider dealing is a dishonest crime, not a means for city professionals to make money on the side. Mr Clarke abused the trust that came with a city career by cheating the system and, in doing so, he let down the expectations of the whole community. The FCA remains dedicated to stamping out market abuse in all its forms.”
Mr Clarke admitted dealing on the basis of inside information he obtained during the course of his employment at Schroders. He was employed initially as a fund manager’s assistant and, from 2006, as an equities trader. In these roles Mr Clarke received inside information about significant corporate events, mainly anticipated public announcements of mergers and acquisitions. He used this information to place trades using accounts in his own name and that of close family members, in respect of which he had been provided with the account numbers and passwords. The total profits made from Mr Clarke’s insider dealing amount to at least £155,161.98.
The FCA, and previously the Financial Services Authority, have secured 27 convictions in relation to insider dealing: Christopher McQuoid and James William Melbourne in March 2009; Matthew and Neel Uberoi in November 2009, Malcolm Calvert on 11 March 2010, Anjam Ahmad on 22 June 2010, Neil Rollins on 21 January 2011, Christian Littlewood and Angie Littlewood on 8 October 2010 and Helmy Omar Sa’aid on 10 January 2011, Rupinder Sidhu on 15 December, and James and Miranda Sanders together with James Swallow in May 2012 and Ali Mustafa, Pardip Saini, Paresh Shah, Neten Shah, Bijal Shah and Truptesh Patel on 27 July 2012, Thomas Ammann on 13 December 2012, Paul Milsom on 7 March 2013, Richard Joseph on 11 March 2013 and Graeme Shelley on 27 March 2014, Julian Rifat on 7 November 2014, Ryan Willmott on the 26 February 2015 and Paul Coyle on the 3 March 2015.
